The present invention relates to brassieres and in particular to a brassiere which incorporates a seamless breast cup construction and wherein the entire brassiere includes a negligible amount of stitching joining various components of the brassiere together.
Construction details of brassieres (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cbrasxe2x80x9d) have been developed over many years. Construction details have evolved along with the introduction of new materials and new processes which can be utilised for the manufacturing of bras. As with most consumer products, manufacturers endeavour to reduce the cost of goods sold. A reduction in cost of goods sold can be brought about by the use of cheaper materials. For bra technology however, a significant saving in the cost of a bra can be achieved by eliminating the man-hours required to manufacture the bra. Many bras that are available on the market will include multiple panels of materials which need to be cut, and joined. Cutting can be automated, however when it comes to stitching the panels together, this will mostly be done by a person. The breast cup of a bra may consist of multiple panels which each need to be stitched together, the entire breast cup then needs to be stitched to the chest band and to the over the shoulder straps. Perimeter stitching or overlooking to ensure that the edges of the material of the bra do not fray also needs to be added to the bra. Such is also done by a person. It can hence be seen that in order to manufacture a bra, the labour component of the overall cost can be relatively high.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a bra which reduces the amount of stitching that is required compared to the majority of bras available on the market. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a seamless breast cup construction which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a seamless breast cup construction and related bra incorporating such construction to reduce the labour content of manufacturing of the bra or to at least provide the public with a useful choice.
According to the present invention, there is provided a brassiere having bra core which includes two breasts cups made from a flexible assembly of sheet materials and formed by molding to a cup shape to support the breasts of a person, each breast cup including at least a first sheet of molded foam material and a co extensive second sheet of foam material laminated directly together. Preferably, but optionally, the sandwiched intermediate the foam sheets are two underwire structures, one adjacent to each breast cup, the underwire structures being comprised of rigid elongated members and a surrounding casing. A chest band core having swaps sewn onto an inner gore region and extending in opposite directions from said inner gore regions is affixed to each breast cup by stitching. The chest band core extends about the chest of a person and includes mutually interactive fastening clips at distal ends of each strap. Two sheets of fabric are adhered by adhesive moulding to opposite sides of the bra core, each layer of fabric being of a continuous sheet, molded to the contour of the bra core.
Preferably each sheet of fabric is co-extensive with the bra core.
Preferably the second sheet of foam material is apiece of skived foam cut to a predefined cup shape.
Preferably the first sheet of molded foam material is an open cell foam formed from a sheet of foam material of 1 mm to 5 mm thick.
Preferably the rigid elongated member is made of a metal.
Preferably the rigid elongated member is made of a plastic.
Preferably the casing is of a fabric material.
Preferably the casing is adhered to each of the facing surfaces of the first and second sheets of foam material by an adhesive.
Preferably the casing is a tubular sock within which the rigid elongated member is located, the sock having closed distal ends.
Preferably the first sheet of molded foam material of each cup has been generated out of a single sheet of foam material.
Preferably the bra core is ultrasonically welded at its perimeter.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a brassiere comprising the steps of preforming breast cups, each breast cup optionally including an underwire structure comprising a rigid elongated member and a casing about at least part of said rigid elongated member, affixing the breast cups to a chest band core comprising straps which are sewn to an inner gore, and which extend in opposite directions from the inner gore, to define a bra core, sandwiching the bra core between two sheets of fabric, adhering the two sheets of fabric to the bra core, affixing shoulder straps to each breast cup and affixing back clasps to the end of each straps.
Preferably adhesion of shoulder straps and the back clasps is achieved by ultrasonic welding.
In a further aspect the present invention consist in a brassiere of a kind made according to the method as hereinbefore defined.
This invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more of said parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth. For the purposes of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred. It is being understood however that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.